The stressful part is over! When you’re honeymooning, the stress of planning, and guests, and families and timelines is GONE. And it shows in the photos. There’s something pretty amazing about the energy between newlyweds when the wedding is done and it’s just the two of you on your honeymoon. The stresses of every day life are (in many cases thousands of) miles away. You’re with the one you love the most. It’s just… well… bliss. Bliss looks good on everyone.

It’s kinda easy to rope your spouse into it cause you can ride that whole obligatory wedding stuff just a little while longer… “Honey, it’s what we’re supposed to do. It’s a part of the whole wedding thing. We have to do this. It’s tradition” 😉

It’s the perfect way to commemorate your visit and perhaps see some locations you might otherwise miss. Because wherever you’re honeymooning, if your photographer lives there, odds are they know some spots off the beaten path. So you’ll get to see and experience things you might not have otherwise, and there will be photos of the experience as well. It adds an extra layer of special to an already amazing experience.

Even if that extra layer of special is “Hey, remember when we got poured on on our way out of that waterfall?”.

Do you know what you should do if it rains on your wedding day? You should have the most amazing wedding day ever anyways. And then get your wedding featured on Style Me Pretty!!

That’s what these two did. It totally down-poured on this wedding. But you can’t even tell in the photos that it’s raining, except for the umbrellas really, because Mallory and Derick were all smiles, all day. They decided that it didn’t matter if it was raining or sunny, they were going to be in the moment and enjoy their day THEIR way. They braved the rain for their ceremony and then just as it was time for romantics, we headed down to the rocks at Merriman’s, Kapalua with our umbrellas and low and behold, the rain stopped and out came the most beautiful light…

I’ve been thinking a lot about who my ideal client is and the easiest way of defining my style. I did it a few years ago here, but with my recent switch to film, I’ve been wondering if perhaps that means my client base has changed. I’ve been incredibly lucky to connect with down to earth, funny, full of personality, crazy-good-in-front-of-the-camera-even-though-they-say-they’re-awkward kind of people who’s love for each other is obvious and who also tend to have really great and unique style. So I keep thinking to myself, now that I shoot film, does this change things?

And this self evaluation has led me to an important realization:

My client base is awesome, sexy people. And the medium I’m using doesn’t change that at all.

In fact, it seems that many of the people who had already booked me before my switch to film, were super stoked on the idea of medium format and 35mm film at their wedding. So I think that I’m still the same girl, same ideals, same style, same clients… just changed the medium (to something that seriously rocks my world… so I’m like… WAY more into it… if you can even imagine).

But a part of me still feels like I need to redefine myself a bit. Even if it’s sort of redundant.

So here goes:

Defining My Style – Part Deux

EXPOSURE

If you’re having a huge, elaborate wedding because you want to get published, then I’m probably not the photographer for you. Not that I don’t get published, or enjoy being published. But I don’t want to shoot for a publication. I want to shoot for you. I want to be authentic in what I’m capturing because it captures your experience and your emotions. I don’t want to be thinking “if I shoot it this way, will it get published?” because that sucks the spontaneity and creativity right out of me. And I like being spontaneous; trying things that might not work but if they did OMG how awesome would that be?! And I tend to see and do things differently. And it might not be a publishable kind of different, but it might just be your absolute-favorite-photo-from-your-entire-wedding kind of different. And I don’t want to miss that because I’m worried about some editor.

So if your ultimate goal is to have your wedding shared on Style Me Pretty, then I’d say we’re probably not a good match. But if your ultimate goal is to have an amazing wedding, marry the one you love, and have photos that help you relive your day over and over, and then getting published on Style Me Pretty would be a bonus that you’d enjoy should it happen; then we’d probably get along fine.

FOCUS

Does this mean that I don’t like gorgeous florals? Or amazing venues? Or meaningful details? Hells no! I love all of those things. But not because they are publishable. Because each little detail brings me a little closer to who you are and what brought you to where you are now. It helps me connect, and know your story. And that’s one of my favorite things about my job. Knowing that your favorite flowers are hydrangeas because you used to summer in Nantucket. Or that your Gram’s ring is the something borrowed and something blue and she was married for 55 years, had a thing for sapphires and just happens to be where you got your spunky personality from.

The more I learn about you, the more connected I feel, and the more connected I feel, the happier I get and the happier I get, the better I shoot and it’s all this crazy happy upwards spiral which is apparent by the increasing high pitch of the squeals I make as I take photos. (though the low guttural grunts are good too… sometimes better)

So, if you’re having a beautiful wedding that reflects the beauty of the relationship that you have, then we’ll be a great match. I love good design, I enjoy beautiful things. And I can shoot the shit out of details. But the real focus of the wedding is you. Your marriage. Your love. And the point of the photos is to remember the day, the moments, the emotions. And to enjoy and remember the meaningful details that you brought forth for your day to show who you are and the depth of your love.

LIGHT

I may have changed my medium to film from digital, but I’m still a whore for backlight. And, apparently, I’m still okay with saying things like “whore for backlight” and “that’s what she said”. Cause that’s who I am. I like to have fun. I like to lighten the mood. Laughter IS light. And if there’s no light, I’m like a dragon hunter without a dragon. (I realize that is the ULTIMATE nerd reference… I’m not actually THAT nerdy… it’s just the only metaphor I’ve found that fits the bill). So I’m going to lighten the mood, and I’m going to search for the literal best light. And I’m probably going to put your back to it. And now, I will stick my light meter under your chin, or right at your boob line, which is really the only difference now that I shoot film.

My name is Trish. I’m a film photographer. I live in Maui. I’m open to traveling anywhere (TUSCANY, TUSCANY, TUSCANY). I’m an all or nothing kind of girl. To the point, no nonsense. And I would love to shoot the shit out of your wedding.

About 8 months ago, my oldest daughter’s boyfriend stole her away from us and brought her to Colorado. He’s an amazing young chef and was given a unique opportunity to be head chef at The Fitz Restaurant in Vail, Colorado.

About 2 months ago, he contacted me kind of out of the blue. He said that he wanted to propose on Maui, when they came back to visit, and asked 1. if he could have my blessing, 2. if I would keep it a secret and 3. if I would photograph it.

I was like, yes, yes and yes!

So we planned to do a photo shoot when they came back, which isn’t that out of the ordinary around these parts, and then at some point during the shoot he’d just get down on one knee and pop the question.

Only, it rained. Like, a lot. So we went searching for sun. Driving around looking for holes in the clouds ahead of us. We found some for about 20 minutes and then… gone. We kept trying to figure out where to go and what to do and finally he was like, I’m just going to do it. Let’s just go to the nicest beach nearby. It doesn’t matter if it’s raining.

And there, on the beach, in the pouring rain, I watched as my oldest got engaged. To someone we’re really, really pleased to welcome into our family.